World History Late Middle Ages

1st Semester 10th Exam CCHS

STUDY

PLAY

Middle class society

made up of merchants, traders and artisans. ranked between nobles and peasants. Nobles and clergy despised them. Formed associations known as guilds. The dominated town life, passing laws and levying taxes. Guild members cooperated to protect their own economic interests. No one except guild members could work in any trade.

Merchants

groups of merchants joined together in partnerships. This made capital (money for investment) more easily available. They developed a system of insurance to help reduce business risks. Europeans adopted some practices from the Muslim merchants with whom they traded. These traders had developed methods of using credit rather than cash in their business.

Dispute between Henry II and Thomas Becket

Thomas becket, archbishops of Canterbury, opposed Henry II on power of courts to try clergy, murdered by Henry's knights. Thomas Becket was murdered and was honored as a martyr and declared saint.

Relationship between monarchs and nobles

monarchs stood at the head of society but had limited power. Nobles and the Church had as much power as monarchs. In some cases, they were more powerful than monarchs,

Reconquista

when Christian kingdoms sought to take over Muslim lands; their campaign to drive Muslims from the Iberian peninsula. When Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile combined their forces and made a final push against the Muslim stronghold of Granada, the Reconquista was complete.

Black Death

the disease that spread across Europe. Spread from China through trade. The sickness was bubonic plague, a disease spread by fleas carried by rats. Had a death rate worse than in any way in history. One in three people died.

Common Law Established by Henry II

a legal system based on custom and court rulings. Unlike feudal laws, common law applied to all of England.

King John

a clever, cruel, and untrustworthy ruler; son of Henry II; faced three powerful enemies (King Philip II of France, Pope Innocent III, and his own English nobles). John was excommunicated when he reject Pope Innocent III's nominee for a new archbishop of Canterbury. To save himself and his crown, John had to accept England as a fief of the papacy and pay a yearly fee to rome. Was forced to sign Magna Carta.

Magna Carta

King John was forced to sin this; great charter; document contained two very important ideas that would shape English government. 1) Asserted that the nobles had certain rights. 2) It made it clear that monarch must obey the law. Basis for the right of habeas corpus: the principle that no person can be held in prison without being charged with a specific crime.

First Crusade in 1099

after a long and bloody campaign, Christian knights captured Jerusalem. They capped their victory with a massacre of Muslim and Jewish residents of the city.

Summa Theologica

a monumental work the famous scholastic Thomas Aquinas wrote. He concluded that faith and reason exist in harmony. Both lead to the same truth, that God rules over an orderly universe.

Gothic architecture

Abbot Suger wanted to build a new abbey church in Paris. Builders developed what became known as the gothic style of architecture. Its most important feature was the flying buttresses, or stone supports that stood outside the church. These supports allowed builders to construct higher, thinner walls and leave space for large stained-glass windows. Gothic churches soared to incredible heights. The frames had religious themes.

Dante Alighieri

An Italian poet who wrote Divine Comedy. The poet takes the reader on an imaginary journey into hell and purgatory, where souls await forgives. Finally, in the third section Date describes a vision of heaven.

William of Normandy

William of Normandy; triumphed over harold at the Battle of Hastings. Became king of England on Christmas Day 1066. Granted fiefs to the Church and to his Norman lords, or barons, kept large amounts for himself. He required every vassal to swear first allegiance to him rather than any other feudal lord. He had a complete census taken in 1086. Result was the Domesday book.